Damn that thing is heavy, I always thought my Crux was heavy. Your close to the weight of my commuter. The good news is you only have one way to go from here. I can't believe they put Sora on a Tarmac, I'd expect at least Apex.

Anyways I'd start with the wheels if I was you. I'v been on a $250 pair of Neuvation R28SLs for the last three years that weigh in at about 1500g for the set. I wouldn't get the lightest weight tire you can find unless you plan on racing a lot or like to change flats. Gatorskins are good choices.

9.4kg-1090g does equal roughly 8.4kg (closer to 8.3 actually), as he said. To save those 1090g from his 1970g wheels+tires, his new wheels+tires must weigh 880g. I'm sure it was an innocent mistake. I was just poking a little fun, hence the .

Damn that thing is heavy, I always thought my Crux was heavy. Your close to the weight of my commuter. The good news is you only have one way to go from here. I can't believe they put Sora on a Tarmac, I'd expect at least Apex.

Well, I could go for 105, but decided to save $500...I am glad there's no SRAM, because I tested SRAM RED on SL4 and was suprised how bad it actually felt (for me personally)... keep missing shifts (wanted to go up, it went down...), slow up shifting etc... I'd go Sora anyday.

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Anyways I'd start with the wheels if I was you. I'v been on a $250 pair of Neuvation R28SLs for the last three years that weigh in at about 1500g for the set. I wouldn't get the lightest weight tire you can find unless you plan on racing a lot or like to change flats. Gatorskins are good choices.

I just broke the original wheels on a pothole and bought similar wheels (FSA RD88)... shame, I know, eventually I just didn't feel like spending more money

Good point, I'd probably go Ultremo ZLX (not ZX) and see how that works.

I saw your bike (model) at my LBS last week when I was getting my steerer tube cut. I know it's heavy but it's probably a fair value given the price I saw, 1650 which gives a good carbon frame (sl2) to upgrade over time.

I went through a similar exercise with 2010 Allez. About the same starting weight.

Your assumptions are correct and basically that is where I would start.

SRAM Red cranksets are on closeout all over the web. You can get one for less than $200 right now. That might save you 200g but we don't know your current crank weight. Don't worry about mixing a SRAM crank with Shimano, it works fine. I have 105 with a Red Crank.

Next is cockpit...handlebars, seatpost, and stem. I spent $250 and got a zipp sl stem, zipp carbon bars and a deda superhero seatpost. You just have look around the web. Saved me about 250g.

I got a Specialized Romin saddle and saved well over 100g.

I got Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL Wheels and even though they are heavy by WW standards, I still shed nearly a pound between the wheels and new tires and tubes.

My bike sits in the high 17s at the moment. By the time I switch to an all SRAM drivetrain and new pedals, I will be in the high 16s.

Wheels and tires are your biggest bang for the $. I made a spreadsheet of all my expenses and weight savings and it really does equal about: 1g saved for $1 spent.

Last edited by Dallez on Sat Feb 09, 2013 4:07 am, edited 2 times in total.

Riva Road 143mm - heavy at approx. 350g, but very comfortable, very similar shape to Toupe, but there's so much padding and flex... the negative side though, it has sharp edges which are destroying my pants when I paddle

Toupe 143mm - nice looking, but very hard especially at nose... after 10km my butt was in pain, not sitbones and not the sensitive area, but something between, which is a good thing I guess - might need to do more testing.

Fizik Arione - very long and weird looking seat... I loved the free movement of my thighs, but the seat was narrow (approx. 130mm) and I constantly felt the pressure in the middle, where are all the sensitive nerves.

Romin Pro 155mm - (I was told this is correct size for me, as Romin are sized up)This seat was perfect at first... it had no padding, but the moment I sat on it I was enthralled...The wide nose was very comfortable in agressive positions.I thought I have found my saddle, better than Riva Road, although Romin has basically no padding and carbon rails.Unfortunately, after just 10 minutes my sitbones hurt extensively.I tryed to get to drops and pedal harder, which eased the pain, but just slightly.At home, I couldn't sit on a chair!

Romin Evo 155mm (weight 237g instead official 212g - source)This one is noticeably narrower nose, so it isn't as comfy in drops as Romin was, but we're talking minimal difference.It has more padding, but in reality the difference is not that visible as on picture... they look pretty much the same.

It doesn't hurt sitbones like Romin Pro, but it puts lots of pressure on same spots and kind of spreads it all over, so you are not that uncomfortable, but you feel it when off the bike... like if I stab you with a pen or I put something heavy on your hand and rest it there for a day... both things are bad.I'd say the pressure on the sitbones is 70% lower than with Romin Pro.

I kept this seat, but after 1 month of everyday riding I started to have this neural pain in my butt, whether I was sitting or just lying on the bed... it was like rays of pain going through a nerve in my butt in specific intervals , took few days to disappear.

It wasn't at my sitbones, but like at the bottom of a butt... so I noticed that while pedalling I actually don't like how wide that seat is, and remembered Arione, which offered that free movement of thighs.

I switched back to Riva Road and just couldn't believe how comfortable that seat actually is.

Phenom 143mm - this narrower version actually felt better to me, seems not that rounded as Romin, so I had no issues with thighs movement... however it put the exact pressure on sitbones as Romin did.The padding is somewhere between Romin and Evo, so not very padded.

Fizik Antares Versus - nice quality and finish, but other than that nothing special... the seat is totally flat... I was actually surprised how hard this seat is!Something like Romin I guess... I was expecting comfortable (padded) seat, but NOT REALLY.It didn't look special on the bike either and for the weight I think it's ridiculously expensive.I rode in jeans and it was bearable... most of the pressure was in the middle part of the seat, NOT sitbones and NOT sensitive middle parts, but like outside of these parts.I've done a ride with padded pants also and it was much better. It still offered free movement of thighs like Arione, but I could feel my sitbones, so it fitted me much better.This seat is pretty much same as Toupé or Riva Road, but slightly narrower (just few mm, but I felt the difference).

After going back to Riva Road I felt it's 100% same but 200% more comfortable.Seat returned and journey continues.

I did Selle Italia ID Match and they measured my pelvis, thighs, flexibility, and it came I am S3 group, which means very narrow seats.

It's funny because in Specialized Body Geometry they measured just my sitbones and said I need widest seat

Well, I think I eventually found THE seat!

Selle Italia Superflow 130 - 189g - it's well padded (slightly better than Toupe and Antares Versus I tested) - enough padded for me to ride in shorts without padding... not so padded as Riva Road obviously, but I am fine so far.The shape is similar to Arione, but it seems wider, because Arione felt like it was right in sensitive area.The weight is between middle to sitbones, depends on angle... horizontally or more upward, makes difference!It is also very smooth.Lovin it.

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